A blog by Luke Akehurst about politics, elections, and the Labour Party - With subtitles for the Hard of Left.
Just for the record: all the views expressed here are entirely personal and do not necessarily represent the positions of any organisations I am a member of.

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme Patricia

I wanted to do some phone canvassing tonight after putting my son to bed. That's what I do on nights when I don't have council meetings. But the activities of a couple of senior politicians would have meant I would have spent an evening answering questions about their putsch attempt rather than about housing issues in my ward so I held off. Well done Pat and Geoff for stuffing one of only a hundred or so canvassing days between now and the General Election.

Pat Hewitt of course has form on undermining Labour Leaders. As a delegate to the 1980 Party Conference she gave a ranting Bennite speech denouncing the Callaghan government, which went on to be one of the opening moments to the BBC's 1995 "The Wilderness Years" documentary. Strangely at that time she was in favour of members having more say in the Party, rather than as now them being completely sidelined while an arrogant elite of ex-Ministers try to stage a parliamentary coup d'etat.

Hewitt (along with Charles Clarke and John Reid - at least the latter has remained silent) was also one of the group of yes-men around Kinnock who, in the wake of the 1987 election, told him he'd done everything right and it was the evil old left that lost it, and supported him in spending the next five years waging war against his own party rather than the Tories, a pointless and twisted self-destruction which did as much to cost Labour the 1992 election as anything else.

A rare opportunity for you to agree with Diane Abbott, John Austin and Lynne Jones, Luke.

I particularly enjoyed Jimmy Hood's contribution, as well... for those who didn't follow the link:

"Spiteful; Disloyal; Treacherous are but a few caveats that best describe the actions of "the gang of two" today. It was an act of treachery beyond comprehension; betrayal of the Labour Party, our Government and the causes we have fought for all our lives. I await an announcement of future memoirs from either or both.

Our history is littered with traitors, I have just added another two to my list"

As someone who would probably have voted for pretty much anyone other than Brown given the chance in 2007, I have to say the idea that our chances would be improved by a public and acrimonious panic attack four months ahead of a general election verges on the delusional.

He has started doing what we need to do increased taxes on the mega rich. While going against treasury instincts to increase VAT to 20%. He has become a proper representative of the working and lower middle class.

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About Me

Labour Party activist since 1988 - firmly on the moderate wing of the party. Member of Labour’s NEC 2010-2012. National Secretary of Labour Students 1995-6. Parliamentary candidate for Aldershot (2001) and Castle Point (2005). Hackney Councillor (Chatham Ward) 2002-2014, Labour Group Chief Whip 2002-09, Chair of Health Scrutiny 2010-2014. Supporter of Europe, NATO/nuclear deterrence, Israel, electoral reform. Guardian reader. Dad. Oxford resident. Unite union member. Employment history as a Labour Party Organiser, Local Government Political Assistant, Director at a Public Affairs company. All views expressed in a personal capacity. The rest will become evident from reading the blog.